Customer Reviews

Charity on Trial: What You Need to Know Before You Contribute

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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As an Executive Director of a large inner city Social Service Agency this is a great book. Most of us all agree you have to have a vision where you want to be, and how you want to get there. Mr. White clearly has a vision that all charities should strive for the highest ETHICAL and not just legal standards. His book has a lot to offer in helping us keep our minds on that job, while we also try to keep our eyes on the prize. Donor Accountability is not to be taken lightly and this book is right on target for today's post Enron Era. Every CEO, CFO and ED's should read this book.
It should be required reading in any MBA field and certainly for anyone involved in the Fundraising Profession. Stephen Providence RI

As a baby boomer who writes lots of checks to charities, I found this book to be enlightening and enormously helpful. The author clearly has the information donors need to ensure that the money they give is used for the purposes they intend. Although he pulls no punches, Mr. White's heart is firmly in the world of charities. He wants to weed out the bad ones so the good ones succeed.

As a donor to a number of charities, I found this book to be enlightening. After reading it, I understood better how to look at charities with a more critical eye. In so doing, I can make certain my money is best spent. This book is a must for anyone interested in being a more focused donor.

Equal parts investigative journalism and thoughtful commentary on the role of philanthropy in our society, Doug White successfully takes a dry topic and creates an informative and enjoyable page-turner. Current events seem to indicate that philanthropists would do well to read this considered and engaging text as they allocate resources across the broad spectrum of charitable giving opportunities both domestically and internationally. A must read for charitable organization leadership, individuals looking to engage in mindful giving, and their advisors. For those of us who are interested in this subject matter, we can only hope that a follow up volume will be forthcoming!

In December 2008 I was enrolled in an Ethics of Nonprofits class which had the good fortune to have the author as a guest speaker. I hadn't yet read the book, but became interested after the author led a lively discussion of several of the case studies. I've since finished the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. With the recent headlines I was struck by the timeliness of the examples, in particular the similarities between New Era and Bernard Madoff and the faculty uprisings at Adelphi and the New School.

The author's passion for the nonprofit sector is clear and compelling. You'll find yourself sharing his belief that charities, government and donors should be working together to achieve better transparency and accountability.

Doug White's look at the state of charities and fundraising in our country is insightful and well-thought out. This book, which is easy to read, does an outstanding job of enlightening all of us on what happens behind the scenes of charities. Even experienced fundraisers, dedicated board members and long-time donors can benefit from the wisdom and observations in its pages. As entertaining as it is informative, it is a breath of fresh air in the non-profit world.

Doug offers an excellent look at the real issues faced by non profit organizations. Administration and fund-raising are reasonable functions with real expenses. However those costs are rarely an indicator of effectiveness. There is no practical standard to measure efficiency or success comparable to "for profit" organizations. His book is helpful to the discerning donor to attempt to identify those who will take your money and hopefully use it to help those we cannot help directly. To make to biggest difference you can.